The CEO of VISA and Iona alumnus Alfred F. Kelly Jr. was interviewed in Romita Auditorium as part of the Dr. Charles F. O’Donnell Lecture Series on Oct. 20.

Kelly discussed moral and ethical leadership with Dr. William Lamb, the dean of the LaPenta School of Business, during the interview, as one of the events for this year’s homecoming weekend.

Kelly talked about the ways in which he encourages leadership at all levels of VISA, specifically what he calls “servant leadership.”

“It’s my job to earn the respect of people who work for me,” Kelly said.

At VISA, employees are rated based on how well they do their job and from these ratings, they are given advice on how to improve, or they might be given a bonus. Kelly has also added a new rating based on leadership.

“Everyone got a rating on leadership because everyone needs to be a leader,” he said.

Kelly said that the majority of his failures were in choosing bad people for positions.

“A leader’s number one job is to pick the right talent,” Kelly said. “The number one thing you need to have on your mind is talent.”

Before Kelly joined VISA as CEO in 2016, he worked for other major card companies like American Express.

Students across majors came to listen to Kelly.

“As a non-business major, I was able to watch and see how an individual of his importance conducts himself,” junior Joseph Giancaspro said.

Junior John Tabiori, who is a business major, appreciated Kelly sharing his experiences in business.

“It’s important to hear about his experiences,” Tabiori said.

Lamb said he thought that it was important for students to hear from Kelly.

“I think I particularly liked the point about it not just being about how good you are at your job, to learning the tasks you are doing, but how you’re going to treat other people and how you’re going to work with them,” Lamb said.

Kelly, who graduated from Iona with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science in 1980, went on to receive his MBA from Iona the next year.

“This place was very formative for me,” Kelly said. “I learned a tremendous amount about developing my curiosity [and] my study skills from a large number of fantastic professors. Iona’s faculty is first and foremost dedicated to teaching, even ahead of research. The faculty is dedicated to helping students, and commitment to that, I think, makes a big difference and [is] one of the things that distinguishes Iona as a [college].”

During his time in the MBA program, he was able to teach computer science students part time. He also worked directly with O’Donnell in the Computer Science department while he was earning his MBA.

Kelly said that Iona students should seek the best classes he or she can take during his or her college career.

“You’re here to challenge yourself,” he said. “You’re not here to fill time.”